by Jeff Olson, Special for USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Olson, Special for USA TODAY Sports

More than a year since the series started disclosing technical infractions and penalties, IndyCar drivers and teams still are working to understand the process and the punishment.

While the news of teams that break rules or fail inspection is made available, it's not detailed. Team officials say they still aren't certain which punishment to expect for specific violations.

Derrick Walker, the new president of operations and competition for INDYCAR, wants to make infractions and their subsequent penalties more transparent.

After Team Penske was fined $35,000 for a post-race technical violation on Helio Castroneves' winning car at Texas Motor Speedway, Penske Racing president Tim Cindric did something unusual. Cindric put the car in a wind tunnel, violation and all, tested its performance compared to normal performance, and publicized his findings.

The violation hadn't given the car an advantage, he argued. Instead, the violation hurt the car's performance.

In response, Walker did something unusual. He gave Cindric's response his blessing.

"I thought it was appropriate," Walker told USA TODAY Sports. "People always want to know more than we publish, and we don't like to discuss those details in public. We publish the penalty and the punishment, but we don't explain it. We're there to measure the cars and check them and manage the competition. We need to do a better job of explaining how we do that. It's no good catching someone if you can't define it and explain it."

The wiggle room with punishment lies with the many possible variations of infractions, especially in post-race technical inspection. While on-track violations - blocking, speeding on pit road, running over an air hose - have defined consequences, technical violations are far more complicated.

Since taking the position May 27, Walker's goal has been to make penalties for the myriad infractions - both on-track and off-track - clear.

Cindric, who called the violation "an honest mistake," said he publicized the findings partly to defend Team Penske, but also to inform other teams of the nature of the violation.

"One thing IndyCar needs to be sure of when they have an infraction is that they let other teams know exactly what it was and what it looks like," Cindric told USA TODAY Sports. "There needs to be complete transparency to the other teams. ... It's Derrick's goal to be more predictable and consistent."

Some areas still seem to defy such boundaries, like televised obscene gestures and what IndyCar drivers call "double secret probation."

The punishment for proscribed obscene gestures by IndyCar drivers still isn't clear. Sebastian Saavedra received a $30,000 fine when live TV coverage caught him making obscene gestures toward Marco Andretti during a race this month at Detroit.

The strange case of obscene gestures and their resulting fines has nothing on probation, which drivers receive in response to more unusual and undefined violations. Drivers who are placed on probation jokingly refer to it as "double secret probation," the mysterious and unclear punishment set forth by Dean Wormer in Animal House.

After Will Power and Sebastien Bourdais were involved in a crash at Detroit, both were placed on probation for the rest of the year - Power for throwing his gloves at Bourdais; Bourdais for post-race comments. Neither is sure what happens if they cross the line during the final 10 races of the season.

"I'm not sure what probation means or why it exists," said Cindric, Power's boss. "It's hard to explain the consequences. I think it's just a fancy name for a warning."

It's not as simple as creating a spreadsheet and matching violation to punishment, Walker explains. There are too many variables involved with each violation - intent included - to make a cut-and-dried decision with each particular violation. But getting closer to that is his goal.

"I will say we do need to increase consistency in the way we do a lot of things, not just penalties," Walker said. "We need to explain what we're doing and why we're doing it. We need to remind people of how we do penalties. There's a need to go back and reemphasize some of the ways we do things and why we do them. We can be a lot more transparent."

Team co-owner Bobby Rahal, who has known Walker for decades, said he appreciates the direction Walker is taking in response to rules.

"We had an issue with the fines at Indy," Rahal said. "Thanks to Derrick and (IndyCar race director) Beaux (Barfield), we had a lot of discussions. They said, 'You know what? You're right. That's probably not a legitimate fine.' But I couldn't argue with our Detroit fine. We were illegal and that was that.

"The more transparent it gets, the better things are. We're getting there slowly, but we still don't know what infraction gets you what penalty. I'm not sure you can define every single penalty, because the infractions can be many. It's a lot to expect to know what gets you what."

In spite of a recent run of penalties, including three penalties and two probations at Detroit, Walker and owners say they don't sense a spike in violations, or that people are routinely trying to buck the system. If anything, owners say clarifying and publicizing details of violations will make them less likely to occur.

"It's not like the old saying, 'It's not cheating if you don't get caught,' " Rahal said. "It's harder to get away with now than it was back then. Teams should be able to answer the charges against them, but it should be done in a respectful manner, something that's laid out in black and white."